Spieth gets rare Byron Nelson exemption

Spieth, 16, has accepted a sponsor exemption in the PGA Tour’s HP Byron Nelson Championship. It was the event’s first amateur exemption in 15 years.

Spieth, the reigning U.S. Junior Amateur champion, joins the ranks of only three other amateurs granted exemptions by the tournament: Tiger Woods and Justin Leonard in 1993, and Trip Kuehne in 1995.

The Dallas high school junior is No. 1 in Golfweek/Titleist Junior Rankings and posted top-10 finishes in all eight AJGA events he entered in 2009. He will graduate from The Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas in 2011 and has narrowed his college choices to Oklahoma State and Texas.

The HP Byron Nelson Championship will be played May 19-23 at the TPC Four Seasons Las Colinas in Irving, Texas.